I was fortunate enough to visit Universal Studios Japan 2 weeks ago in Osaka. I visited the Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) attractions such as Life-sized Wall Titan, Clone-oid and more. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to enter the Cinema 4-D Theater as the queue was too long (about 90 minutes) to queue and get the ticket (so I gave up).

Here are some of the pictures taken by me and I hope you find it entertaining.

That all aside, we have announced a game which is based on the Attack on Titan, titled A.O.T. Wings of Freedom for Europe, coming to PS4, Xbox One, Steam, PS3 and PS Vita on August 26, 2016.

Hope you enjoy the good news and I’ll blog more about our upcoming releases in the next post. Thanks!

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Today we announced that Naotora will be joining Dead or Alive 5 Last Round as a Fighter (via DLC) in March. The DLC is coming on 17th of March for PS4, Xbox One and PC (via Steam) – price: €5.99 with a free Azuchi stage (which is only available for PS4 and Xbox One). The Samurai Warriors-inspired costumes are also coming in March (but on 29th).

Here are the comparison screens of Naotora Ii in Samurai Warriors 4 and in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round.

I personally am very impressed on the graphic (good job, Team Ninja!) – I have also watched the live stream of her gameplay which her Power Blow is just like her Musou Attack in Samurai Warriors 4!

I’m looking forward to the official trailer for this. Here are my answers to most of the questions that I received on social network.

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Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is coming out tomorrow across Europe and I would like to highlight some of the activities we had done (or I had experienced) here at Koei Tecmo.

June 2015:
The title was announced in Japan, titled ‘Arslan Senki x Musou’ for PS4 and PS3.

August 2015:
We announced Arslan: The Warriors of Legend (as an official name) with Xbox One release at Gamescom.

September 2015:
I was lucky enough to go to Tokyo Game Show. It’s my first time meeting with the producer (and the dev team) as well as the community manager from Koei Tecmo US.

October 2015:
We attended to London MCM Comic Con. Apart from Arslan: The Warriors of Legend being playable, I was very fortunate to be able to work with Reika, and the rest of the beautiful Arslan cosplay crew.

November 2015:
I visited Paris Games Week (in France), it was a day trip. I also attended to Salón del Manga de Andalucía (in Granada, Spain) as a special guest, it’s a pleasure to work with the team in Granada; I was really happy that my team approved and allowed me to bring the demo to the show as well. This was my best experience for the Arslan campaign.

January 2016:
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend was announced for PC (via Steam), which is available now.

February 2016:
I did a mini Q&A with my friend, also one of the biggest Warriors player, Rident. We talked about the game based on his experience on Warriors game, which you can read it here.

I hope you enjoy the game. As far as I’m aware, the reviews were all quite good and the Warriors fans in the US were pleased, so I wish the EU fans could feel the same tomorrow.

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If you don’t know anything about Gust, it’s a studio which is known for the Atelier series, other titles include Ar nosurge, Ar tonelico and the new IP, Nights of Azure (known as Yoru no Nai Kuni in Japan).

The team is currently considering future collaboration titles. Although nothing is decided yet, they’re keen and curious about what Gust fans are interested. You probably would say, ‘come on, just focus your own titles’ in which you don’t have to worry as they will do so.

For those who *always love to complain* complained that they don’t have a Facebook account and not able to join, please only make complaints after you actually tried it. I have just realised that you can vote without an account (you’ll be registered as Anonymous) – one time only!

Feel free to join and let the team know before this Monday which is 8th February 2016.

Thank you!

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Koei’s Omega Force is known for the Dynasty Warriors game series. In recent years, not only they started to develop other games such as Bladestorm, Toukiden, they also involved in many collaboration projects based on the ‘Warriors’ engine, Hyrule Warriors, Dragon Quest Heroes, to name a few.

One of the latest collaboration project which uses the ‘Warriors’ engine is Arslan: The Warriors of Legend, which is coming next week (US: February 9, EU: February 12) for the PS4, Xbox One, and also available digitally for PS3 and Steam.

I’m not going to talk about the game features with bullet points here today (as you can find those information on the official site) but I have a special guest, RidentFFXI, my friend to talk about this game with me.

We have played the PS4 demo and we both thought it’s too short as it’s just a basic tutorial, so I gave Rident an early access to the game so he can tell me his opinion about this game as a Warriors’ fan himself.

Chin:So Rident, before we start. Can you tell us which Warriors game is your most favourite?

Rident:My favourite Warriors title ever would have to be Dynasty Warriors 4 on the PS2. (I am a Warriors fan and have been for many years.)

Rident:I have watched through the first season of the series which had me pretty hooked for a few days. I haven’t read the novels though. I first caught sight of Arslan after seeing Koei Tecmo Japan was developing a anime styled game based on this novel and recently re-adapted TV series. I thought I’d want to do more research on this and decided to watch it.

Chin:What do you think about the story? Do you like it? I heard some saying that it reminds them about Dynasty Warriors, do you agree?

Rident:I can definitely draw some similarities between characters and situations in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms stories and those in The Heroic Legend of Arslan. There are a few events and battles which are relatable, most notable are those battles won through Narsus’ strategies which brings events such as The Battle of Chibi to mind.

Chin:Well, now you have played and experience the game (Arslan: The Warriors of Legend), what can you tell us about it? Do you find any differences between this game and Dynasty Warriors? Or it’s just a re-skin?

Rident:While the game has a nice anime feel to it in terms of visual style, the game play in the majority very much feels like standard Warriors formula. There are some nice new features such as the Mardān Rush which allows for some pretty epic combo chains. The dodge system is a nice change to the regular Warriors combat and works nicely with the boss battles and harder difficulties. The mini-mission system during battles was also something which I felt was quite similar to the recent Samurai Warriors titles, though I feel two timed challenges at once (especially the KO counter) gets a little frustrating at times.

The flow of the game is quite different to Dynasty Warriors titles as it is much more story focused, and instead of going to a menu/battle preparation system between each battle, the game will smoothly jump straight into story cutscenes. I think that works very well with this game and keeps it on track with the flow of the anime. Some may find it a little too story heavy however.

Chin:With so many collaboration projects from Omega Force, would you say Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is one of your most favourite?

Rident:I would definitely recommend to anyone who was a fan of the anime, and I believe it does the anime justice. I have enjoyed the likes of the One Piece: Pirate Warriors and Dynasty Warriors Gundam series, and would definitely rate Arslan: The Warriors of Legend within my top 3 collaborations based on the story campaign. I do feel it lacks some additional modes and customisation options compared with these other titles however.

Chin:Regarding the characters in Arslan: The Warriors of Legend, who is your favourite? Do the characteristics differ much from the anime version?

Rident:I am a bit of a sucker for strategists and really loved Narsus in both the anime and the game. He really reminds me of one of my favourite characters, Zhuge Liang, from Dynasty Warriors series. With the sword equipped, Narsus does act more similar to his anime counterpart in battle and he definitely mirrors in characteristics within the story scenes. I do have many more characters to unlock and try out in the game still.

Chin:Does this game meet your expectation?

Rident:Having followed the game and watching gameplay videos since the marketing began in Japan, I can say in terms of game play it has matched my expectations. The way the story is told has slightly exceeded expectations and feels much like an anime. Content-wise I feel it lacks a bit with few modes and not a lot of customisation available other than the Skill Cards system, which is pretty good.

Chin:Any ‘wow’ factor? Don’t worry, you can be honest to even say no.

Rident:Whether it is due to the fact I know the story well, having watched the anime recently or I having played/seen demos leading up to release, the game has not given me any real ‘wow’ factor. There may be something to come however once I progress deeper into the story.

Chin:Now if you can suggest one thing for the game to improve, what would it be?

Rident:What I would suggest mainly for an improvement, is for more modes beyond Story and Free Mode. Maybe some kind of challenge mode. I feel based on recent Warriors title releases, it lacks on that front in order to retain replayability.

As a Warriors fan, I think Arslan: The Warriors of Legend is great fun to play, and I love the story.

Chin: Thank you!

I hope you find our conversation useful here. There will be reviews coming from media next week but I think it’s better to get the opinion from a knowledgeable Warriors’ fan. Thanks for reading!

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This is something that I did with the producers since early last year. I sat down and talked to them (well, with the translator as I can’t speak Japanese).. about random things other than KT games. I almost got Hayashi-san during TGS but he was busy. Here I have some producers that you might know.
– Koinuma-san, producer of SW4, OPPW3, Attack on Titan (working title), etc.
– Suzuki-san, producer of DW8, Warriors Orochi 3, RTK13, etc.
– Ogasawara-san, producer of Dragon Quest Heroes, Toukiden, Nobunaga’s Ambition: SoI.
– Kikuchi-san, producer of Nights of Azure, Fatal Frame, Deception IV, etc.
– Mieda-san, producer of SW4 Empires.
– Nakadai-san, producer of Arslan: The Warriors of Legend.

So here I draw a table on what their favorite things are, so you get to learn about them. Or next time, if you see them and would like to give them something, this information will definitely help!

Favorite Color?

Favorite Food?

Favorite Game?

Favorite Thing To Do?

If You Weren’t A Producer at Koei Tecmo, You Would Be..

Favorite Koei Tecmo Character?

I hope you find this interesting. They were really friendly and not afraid to tell me what they love – they laughed when being asked some of these questions (I hope they find the questions amusing, rather than thinking of me being naive).

So.. Who would be your best friend from the list? I think I would pick Mieda-san as I love cooking, and meat! Maybe we can cook some chicken for Koinuma-san too.

Arslan: The Warriors of Legend (PS4, Xbox One; digital only for PS3, Steam)
– Developed by Omega Force (Koei).
– English sub, Japanese dub.
– Out 12 February 2016 (EU release date).
– PS4 demo available at: http://bit.ly/arslandemo
– PC (Steam) version is based on the PS4 version this time (finally!)
– Sound is available while streaming via PS4Share.
– Online and offline co-op are available.
– Website URL: http://www.koeitecmoeurope.com/arslan

Nights of Azure (PS4)
– Developed by Gust (Producer is Keisuke Kikuchi who worked for Tecmo’s Fatal Frame, etc).
– English sub, Japanese dub.
– Out 1 April 2016 (EU release date).
– No censorship.
– Limited Edition available via NISA EU Store, costs £74.99.
– No PS3 and PS Vita releases, will persuade the team to look into PS Vita version again (the quality doesn’t look that nice though – personal opinion.)
– Website URL: http://www.koeitecmoeurope.com/nightsofazure (to be launched)

There are more titles coming in Q2 and the rest of the year. But let’s finish this quarter first. Hope this Q1 information is helpful, at least.